ERIC EJ840112: Integrating Science into the Agricultural Education Curriculum: Do Science and Agriculture Teachers Agree?

INTEGRATING SCIENCE INTO THE AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION
CURRICULUM: DO SCIENCE AND AGRICULTURE TEACHERS AGREE?

Gregory W. Thompson, Professor
Oregon State University
Brian K. Warnick, Assistant Professor
Utah State University

Abstract

Agriculture teachers and science teachers who taught in a high school with an agricultural
education program were targeted for this study to determine and compare their perceptions of
integrating science into agricultural education programs. The data indicate that while both
groups have responded positively to the call to integrate science into the agricultural education
curriculum, some differences in attitudes do exist. A majority of the teachers indicated that
teacher preparation programs should provide instruction on how to in tegrate science both at the
preservice and inservice levels. More agriculture teachers were in agreement than science
teachers that integrating science would help agriculture programs meet state standards and help
students meet requirements for state standards. Although a majority of science teachers agreed,
a significantly greater number of agriculture teachers agreed that students will be better
prepared for standardized testing if they learn science through an agriculture context.

Introduction

The integration of agricultural education
with academic subjects has been the topic of
much discussion and interest over the past
several years. Roberson, Flowers, and
Moore (2001) defined integration between
vocational education and academic subjects
as “a marriage of both types of curricula in
order to teach the many skills necessary
for students' future successes” (p. 31).
Furthermore, Farley and Taylor (2004)
posited, “If we continue to teach all skills in
isolation, we can only reinforce the idea that
we acquire different skills for use in
different subject areas” (p. 8).

Both academic and vocational groups
have made calls for the integration of
science and agriculture. The American
Association for the Advancement of Science
has recommended connecting what students
learn in school through interdisciplinary
links, real-world connections, and
connections to the world of work (American
Association for the Advancement of
Science, 1993). In 1988, the National
Research Council recommended that
agriculture courses be expanded to increase
scientific and technical content to better

prepare students for advanced study and
employment in the changing food and fiber
industry. Additionally, The Carl D. Perkins
Vocational and Applied Technology Act of
1990 encouraged academic and vocational
teacher collaboration for pedagogy
revision, multidisciplinary integration, and
implementation of real-life learning
experiences (Lankard, 1992).

Research findings support the claim that
the integration of science into the agriculture
curricula is a more effective way to teach
science. Students taught by integrating
agriculture and scientific principles
demonstrated higher achievement than did
students taught by traditional approaches
(Chiasson & Burnett, 2001; Enderlin &
Osborne, 1992; Enderlin, Petrea, &
Osborne, 1993; Roegge & Russell, 1990;
Whent & Leising, 1988).

The theoretical model for this study
consists of factors influencing the amount of
collaboration and integration between
agriculture teachers and science teachers.
Fishbein and Ajzen’s (1975) planned
behavior theory suggested that demographic
variables, knowledge and observations
influence beliefs, which influence attitudes,
intentions, and finally behaviors. In

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attempting to increase the level of
collaboration and integration, the
perceptions of agricultural science
instruction by all stakeholders, including
agriculture instructors, students, parents,
administrators, guidance counselors, and
science teachers, must be considered.

Over the past decade, several studies
have provided insight into the perceptions of
different groups of stakeholders. Attitudinal
surveys of agriculture teachers in Oregon
(Thompson & Balschweid, 1999),
Mississippi (Newman & Johnson, 1993),
Texas (Norris & Briers, 1989), South
Carolina (Lay field, Minor, & Waldvogel,
2001), and Indiana (Balschweid &
Thompson, 2002), as well as winners of the
National FFA’s Agriscience Teacher of the
Year Award (Thompson & Schumacher,
1998b) have all provided information
regarding the perceived needs and barriers
of integrating science. Other studies have
provided insight into the perceptions of
guidance counselors, administrators, parents,
and students toward integrating science into
the agricultural education curriculum
(Balschweid, 2002; Dyer & Osborne, 1999;
Johnson & Newman, 1993; Osborne &
Dyer, 2000; Thompson, 2001).

The perceptions of science teachers, in
particular, are extremely important to the
successful integration of science and
agriculture (Johnson and Newman, 1993).
Collaboration and resource sharing between
the science teacher and agriculture teacher
are often required, and it is often science
teacher groups within a state, district, or
school that influence whether or not students
enrolled in agriscience courses receive
science credit toward graduation. Greater
understanding of the perceptions and
attitudes of science teachers toward
integrating science and agriculture should
assist in implementing changes and
programs that will increase the level of
integration and collaboration. In a study of
attitudes of Illinois high school science
teachers toward education programs in
agriculture, Osborne and Dyer (1998) found
that science teachers agreed that stronger
connections should be made between
science and the agriculture curricula and that
agriculture programs should become more
science based. Osborne and Dyer also found

Journal of Agricultural Education 2

that nearly one -half of the science teachers
reported some collaboration with agriculture
teachers. They recommended further studies
of science teacher teachers’ perceptions
toward agriculture program quality.

Major questions of concern include the
need for integration of science and
agriculture as well as the ability and
preparation of the agriculture teacher to
integrate science into the agriculture
curriculum.

Objectives

The purpose of this study was to
determine the perceptions and attitudes of
high school science teachers and agriculture
teachers toward integrating science into the
agricultural education curriculum. The
following research objectives were
addressed:

1 . Describe the demographic
characteristics of science teachers
and agriculture teachers in Oregon
who taught in schools with
agricultural education programs;

2. Describe and compare perceptions of
selected science teachers and
agriculture teachers concerning the
integration of science and
agriculture;

3. Describe and compare selected
science teachers’ and agriculture
teachers’ perceptions regarding the
role of teacher preparation programs
in agriculture; and,

4. Describe and compare selected
science teachers’ and agriculture
teachers’ perceptions toward meeting
state standards through increased
integration in agricultural education
programs.

Methods/Procedures

The target population for this study
consisted of science teachers ( N = 360) in
schools that had secondary agriculture
programs during the 2001-2002 school year
and agriculture teachers (N = 121) during
the 2001-2002 school year. The Oregon
department of education provided the
researchers with a current database

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containing the name and school address of
each science teacher. This database was
matched with the database of all
agriculture teachers during the 2001-2002
school year. Science teachers employed at
schools with no agricultural education
program were not included in the final
population. Caution should be exercised
when generalizing the results of the study
beyond the population.

The instrument used in this study to
describe the perceptions of science
instructors was adapted from the Integrating
Science Survey Instrument developed by
Thompson and Schumacher (1998a). Face
and content validity for the version of the
instrument used in this study was established
by a group of university teacher educators in
agricultural education and science
education, and by state supervisors of
agricultural education. Two forms of the
questionnaire were created by the
researchers: one for agriculture teachers, and
one for science teachers. The primary
difference between the two forms was the
wording of the questions. The two forms
were pilot tested by science teachers (n = 9)
and agriculture teachers (n = 10) in Utah to
further establish face and content validity as
well as initial reliability (a = 0.87). As a
measure of the reliability of the attitudinal
scale, internal consistency for the science
teacher form was measured at a = 0.90 using
Cronbach’s alpha with construct reliability
ranging from a = 0.71 to a = 0.85. Internal
consistency for the agricultural science
teacher form was measured at a = 0.86 with
construct reliability ranging from a = 0.71 to
a = 0.83.

The survey instrument was mailed to all
subjects along with a cover letter and return
envelope. Two weeks after the initial
mailing, a follow-up postcard was mailed to
all non-respondents. After another two week
waiting period, a second survey instrument
and return envelope were mailed to non-
respondents. Usable responses were
received from 222 science teachers for an
overall response of 61.7% and from 106
agriculture teachers for an overall response
of 87.6%. To examine for non-response bias

a /-test was used to compare early and late
respondents on the summated scale
perception responses (Linder, Murphy, &
Briers, 2001). The t-values obtained
verified that the difference between early
and late respondents was not statistically
significant.

Each form of the instrument consisted of
two parts. Part one included 62 five-point
scale questions designed to obtain
information about the perceptions of
integrating science and agriculture. Subjects
were asked to respond to statements using a
5 for strongly agree, a 4 for agree, 3 for
neutral, 2 for disagree, and 1 for strongly
disagree. Part two requested that the subjects
report demographic infonnation about
themselves.

Data received from part one of the
survey were analyzed and frequencies
reported as the percent of respondents that
chose each of the five response levels. To
simplify reporting, following data analysis,
strongly agree and agree were combined into
one category named “Agree” and disagree
and strongly disagree were combined into
one category named “Disagree.” Responses
by construct from science teachers and
agriculture teachers were then compared
using the Mann- Whitney U Test. This test
was chosen due to the ordinal nature of the
data (scaled responses) and the
independence of the sample groups
(Mertens, 1997).

Results/F indings

Research question one sought to
determine demographic information for the
respondents. A summary of the demographic
characteristics of science and agriculture
teachers is presented in Table 1. The mean
age of science teachers teaching in a school
with an agricultural education program was
42 years old ( SD = 10.1). Respondents had
taught an average of 14.6 years (SD = 9.27)
with 9.7 years of teaching experience
at their current school (SD = 8.158).
The majority were male (68.2%) and lived
in a town/city (59.5%) at the time of the
survey.

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Table 1

Demographic Profile of Science and Agriculture Teachers

Demographic Variable

Science Teachers

Agriculture Teachers

Years of teaching experience

M= 14.59

M= 13.51

(SD = 9.27)

(SD = 10.49)

Years taught at current school

M= 9.71

M= 9.82

(SD = 8.15)

(SD = 8.81)

Age

M= 42.33

M = 39.55

(SD = 10.1 1)

(SD =11 .44)

School Size

M= 465

M= 365

(SD = 247.1)

(SD = 260.7)

Gender

Female

39.3%

17.1%

Male

60.7%

82.9%

Participation in 4-H or agricultural education as

28.0%

87.6%

a youth

Type of area raised in

Farm/Rural

46.3%

84.6%

Town/City

53.7%

15.4%

Type of area lived in at the time of survey

Farm/Rural

40.5%

74.0%

Town/City

59.5%

26.0%

Participated in inservice/workshop courses on

integration

Yes

24.7%

79.2%

No

75.3%

20.0%

Current school awards Science credit toward high

school graduation for agricultural education courses

Yes

46.9%

45.2%

No

53.1%

54.8%

Approximately one in four science

for successful completion of agricultural

teachers (24.7%) reported they had

education courses.

Slightly over one fourth

participated in an inservice workshop or

of the science teachers (28.0%) reported

course that demonstrated how to integrate

they had taken

agricultural education

science and agriculture and slightly fewer

courses in high school and/or been involved

than half of the teachers (46.9%) reported

in 4-H.

that students attending their school received

The mean age

of agriculture teachers

science credit toward high school graduation

was 39.6 years (SD

= 11.4) with 13.5 years

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of teaching experience ( SD = 10.5) and 9.8
years teaching experience at their current
school (SD = 8.8). The majority were male
(82.9%) and lived on a farm or in a rural
area (74.0%) at the time of the survey. Over
three in four agriculture teachers (79.2%)
reported they had participated in an
inservice workshop or course that
demonstrated how to integrate science and
agriculture. Slightly fewer than half of the
teachers (45.2%) reported that students
attending their school received science
credit toward high school graduation for
successful completion of agricultural
education courses. A large majority of the
respondents (87.6%) reported they had taken
agricultural education courses in high school
and/or been involved in 4-H.

Research question two sought to
determine and compare science teachers’
and agriculture teachers’ perceptions
concerning integrating science and
agriculture. The results from the 12
statements indicated that a majority of the
science teachers either agreed or strongly
agreed with all the statements. Percentages
of science teachers who agreed or strongly
agreed with the statements ranged from
38.31% to 96.85%. The highest level of
agreement was found in the statement that
“agriculture is an applied science,” where
97% of the science teachers agreed or
strongly agreed and 100% of the agriculture
teachers agreed or strongly agreed with the
statement. More than half of the teachers
indicated a neutral response (54%) toward
the statement that “integrating science into
agriculture classes has increased ability to
teach problem solving.” Approximately 50
percent of the science teachers agreed or
strongly agreed that the agriculture teacher
in their school was competent enough in

science to teach integrated science concepts.

The majority of agriculture teachers also
agreed or strongly agreed with all the
statements related to integrating science into
the agriculture curriculum. Percentages of
agriculture teachers that agreed or strongly
agreed with the statements ranged from 58%
to 100%. The highest level of agreement
was found for the statement that “agriculture
is an applied science.” Ninety-seven percent
of the science teachers and 100% of the
agriculture teachers agreed or strongly
agreed that agriculture is an applied science
and those involved in agriculture must have
a greater understanding of science than ten
years ago. A majority of the teachers (90%
science; 88% agriculture) also agreed or
strongly agreed that applied science
principles should be inlused into the
agriculture curriculum, and that students are
more aware of the connections and leam
more about agriculture when science
concepts and principles are integrated into
the curriculum. Additionally, a majority
(81.13%) of the agriculture teachers agreed
or strongly agreed that they are competent
enough in science to teach integrated science
concepts.

Although a majority of the teachers
agreed with all but one statement in the
construct concerning perceptions of science
and agriculture, eight of 13 statements were
found to be statistically significant between
the science teacher and the agriculture
teacher. Science and agriculture teachers
differed in the level to which they agreed
with integrating science and agriculture.
Agriculture teachers agreed more strongly
than science teachers (Mann- Whitney U =
7883.5, p = .004). A summary of the
perceptions of science teachers and
agriculture teachers is presented in Table 2.

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Table 2

Percentage of Agreement Between Science and Agriculture Teachers on Their Perceptions of the
Integration of Science and Agriculture

Question

Science
A /DA

Agriculture
A /DA

Mann- Whitney U,
p-v alue

Agriculture is an applied science.

97% / <1%

100% / 0%

U = 7286.0, p<. 001

People in agriculture must have a greater
understanding of science than 10 years ago.

96% / <1%

96% / 0%

U= 8977.5, p = . 137

Students are more aware of connection
between scientific principles and agriculture
when integrated.

93% / 1%

93% / 0%

U= 9594.0, p<. 670

Students learn more about agriculture when
science concepts are integrated.

92% / <1%

89% / 1%

U = 7998.5, p=. 003

Applied science principles should be infused
into the agriculture curriculum.

90% / 1%

88% / 0%

U= 8967.0, p=. 157

Ongoing efforts should be expanded to
upgrade scientific content.

85% / <1%

82% / 2%

U= 8813.0, p=. 098

Science teachers should examine curricula
used for integration opportunities.

73% / 7%

86 % / 3%

U= 8151.0,/) < .007

Agriculture students learn scientific concepts
when integrated into agriculture curriculum.

70% / 4%

86% / 0%

U= 7318.5, p<. 001

Agriculture students are better prepared in
science if integration takes place.

70%/ 10%

86% /0%

U= 1141.5, p = .001

1 feel comfortable working with the
Ag./Science Department to develop a team
teaching approach in integration.

68%/ 11%

64%/ 17%

U = 9032.5, p = . 209

Students understand science concepts easier
when agriculture is integrated.

65% / 8%

68% / 1%

U= 6544.5, p<. 001

The agriculture teacher is competent enough
in science to teach integrated science
concepts.

50%/ 17%

81%/ 6%

U=7077.5,p< .001

Integrating science into agriculture classes has
increased ability to teach problem solving.

38%/ 7%

58% / 6%

U = 7970.0, p = . 003

Note : A = agree, DA = disagree. Following data analysis, strongly agree and agree were collapsed into the agree (A)
column and strongly disagree and disagree were collapsed into the disagree (DA) column.

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Research question number three
contained six statements designed to address
the science and agriculture teachers’
perceptions regarding the role of teacher
preparation programs in assisting teachers to
integrate science (Table 3). The results of
the six statements ranged from 47% to 90%
of the science teachers in agreement and
31% to 92% of the agriculture teaches in
agreement with the statements. Four
statements in the teacher preparation
construct exhibited statistically significant
differences concerning the degree of
agreement, including providing instruction
for pre-service teachers, providing
instruction for inservice teachers, and that
teacher educators should teach a course
modeling team teaching and collaboration.

Over 87% of the science teachers and
90% of the agriculture teachers
strongly agreed or agreed that teacher

education programs should provide
instruction for undergraduates and
teachers in the field on how to integrate
science into the agriculture curriculum.
There was only one statement in
the teacher preparation construct
with which a majority of the teachers did not
agree. Forty-seven percent of the science
teachers and 31% of the agriculture teachers
agreed with the statement that science
teachers should mentor beginning
agriculture teachers in their school district.
Almost half (49%) of the agriculture
teachers and 40% of the science
teachers indicated a neutral response
concerning science teacher mentoring.
Table 3 provides a summary of science
teachers’ and agriculture teachers’
perceptions of the role of teacher preparation
programs in integrating science and
agriculture.

Table 3

Perceptions of the Role of Teacher Preparation Programs in Agriculture

Question

Science
A /DA

Agriculture
A /DA

Mann- Whitney U,
p-value

Provide instruction for undergraduates
on how to integrate science

90% / 2%

92% / 0%

U= 10577.5,/? = .663

Provide inservice for teachers in the
field on how to integrate science

87% / <1%

90% / 0%

U= 10176.5,/? = .295

Should place student teachers with a
cooperating teacher who integrates
science

80%/ 1%

54%/ 11%

U= 7027.0,/? < .001

Teach a course that allows future
teachers to learn to team teach and
model collaboratively

75% / 4%

65% / 5%

U= 8793.5,/? = .003

Increase basic science course
requirements for undergraduates

67% / 2%

54% / 20%

U= 81 14.5,/? < .001

Science teachers should mentor
beginning agriculture teachers to help
them integrate

47%/ 12%

31%/ 30%

U= 7939.5,/? < .001

Note : A = agree, DA = disagree. Following data analysis, strongly agree and agree were collapsed into the agree (A)
column and strongly disagree and disagree were collapsed into the disagree (DA) column.

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Research question four contained eight
statements that addressed state standards.
Overall, science teachers and agriculture
teachers differed in the level to which they
agreed with questions about how increased
science integration affects the ability to meet
state standards (Mann- Whitney U = 6025.0,

p < .001). Additionally, five statements in
the state standards construct were found to
be statistically significant between the
science and agriculture teachers’ level of
agreement. A summary of responses
related to state standards is provided in
Table 4.

Table 4

Perceptions of the Ability to Meet State Standards with Increased Science Integration

Question

Science
A /DA

Agriculture
A /DA

Mann- Whitney U,
p-v alue

Integration will help Agriculture
Programs align with educational
standards.

80% / 2%

85% / 0%

U= 9503.0,/? = .057

Integrating will help students meet
requirements for State Initial Mastery.

77% / 5%

89% / 0%

U= 8970.0,/? = .007

Integrating will help students meet
requirements for State Advanced
Mastery.

73% / 4%

84% / 3%

U= 8821.0,/? = .005

High School graduation credit should
be offered for agriculture classes that
integrate science.

59% / 24%

90% / 2%

U= 4868.5,/? < .001

Our school is actively engaged in
meeting state standards.

57%/ 21%

60% / 20%

U= 10309.5, ^ = .529

Students will be better prepared for
standardized testing if they learn the
application of science.

55% / 14%

78% / 5%

U= 7272.5, < .001

Agriculture courses that integrate
science should be credited toward
college admission science
requirements.

51%/ 24%

92% / 2%

U= 4893.0,/? < .001

State standards will impact the way
science content is delivered.

43%/ 21%

40 % / 12%

U= 7939.5, p= .383

Note : A = agree, DA = disagree. Following data analysis, strongly agree and agree were collapsed into the agree (A)
column and strongly disagree and disagree were collapsed into the disagree (DA) column.

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Both science and agriculture teachers
agreed (80% and 85%, respectively) that
integration will help agriculture programs
align with educational standards. Five out of
eight of the statements were statistically
significant. Although not statistically
significant, 90% of the agriculture teachers
agreed or strongly agreed and 59% of the
science teachers agreed or strongly agreed
that high school graduation credit
should be offered for agriculture classes that
integrate science. Further, 92% of the
agriculture teachers and 51% of the
science teachers agreed that these courses
should be credited toward college admission
science requirements, and 78% of the
agriculture teachers and 55% of the
science teachers agreed that students
will be better prepared for standardized
testing if they leam the application of
science.

Conclusions/Implications/

Recommendations

The purpose of this study was to
determine attitudes and perceptions of
science and agriculture teachers toward
integrating science into the agricultural
education curriculum. Although there was
variation in the level to which agriculture
teachers and science teachers agreed with
the individual statements in the survey
instrument, both groups of teachers
generally expressed positive attitudes toward
the integration of science into the
agricultural education curriculum. Fishbein
and Ajzen’s planned behavior theory (1975)
provides a framework for explaining the
potential for integrating science into the
agricultural education curriculum based
upon the positive perceptions of both
science and agriculture teachers in this
study. They indicate that the positive
perceptions held by science and agriculture
teachers toward integrating science into the
agricultural education curriculum will
influence their intentions and behaviors. In
understanding stakeholder perceptions (in
this study, science teachers), it can be
concluded that since science teachers hold
positive perceptions toward similar concepts
concerning integrating science as agriculture
teachers, there is potential to integrate more

Journal of Agricultural Education 9

science into the agricultural education
curriculum.

Although the science teachers and the
agriculture teachers in this study held
positive attitudes toward the integration of
science in the agricultural education
curriculum, they differed in the levels to
which they agreed with integrating science
and agriculture. It is recommended that
agriculture teachers, teacher educators,
school administrators, and state officials be
made aware that science teachers in this
study generally hold positive attitudes
toward integrating science and agriculture
and may be interested in working with the
agriculture program in their school.

Teachers agreed agriculture is an applied
science and people involved in agriculture
must have a greater understanding of science
than 10 years ago. These findings
correspond with a previous study of Illinois
science teachers (Osborne & Dyer, 1998).
Science and agriculture teachers responded
positively toward student benefits when
science is integrated into the agricultural
education curriculum. Integration of science
into the curriculum should produce more
science literate students that have a deeper
understanding of agriculture and how the
connection and application of science and
agriculture are integral.

Teacher education programs can have a
dynamic impact on helping teachers develop
the pedagogical and technical skills to
increase the science content in the
agricultural education curriculum. A
majority of the teachers indicated that
teacher preparation programs should provide
instruction on how to integrate science both
at the preservice and inservice levels, and
that student teachers should be placed with a
cooperating teacher that makes concerted
efforts to integrate science into
the curriculum. Moreover, science and
agriculture teachers felt teacher education
programs in science and agriculture should
model collaboration by teaching a course
that helps future teachers in science and
agriculture leam how to collaboratively
teach.

Although the teachers differed in their
level of agreement, the majority of science
teachers and agriculture teachers agreed that
preservice agriculture teachers should take

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more basic science courses at the
undergraduate level. When both agriculture
teachers and science teachers recommend
more basic science skills, it may be time to
re-evaluate the science requirements of
agricultural education programs. Teacher
educators should design the preservice
curriculum incorporating basic science
classes that will help future agriculture
teachers develop necessary science skills.
Adding more science courses alone may not
necessarily increase integration of more
science into the agriculture curriculum, but
agriculture teachers may feel more confident
in their science skill level to teach to some
level of depth. Further, teacher educators
should work with science teacher educators
to not only model teaming, but to also help
preservice teachers leam the pedagogy of
teaching science. The generally positive
findings of this study toward integrating
science and agriculture support prior
research (Conroy & Walker, 2000; Layfield
et ah, 2001, Thompson & Balschweid, 1999;
Thompson & Schumacher, 1998b). It is
recommended that teacher preparation
programs in agriculture review the amount
of science offerings at the undergraduate
level to detennine if there are appropriate
science classes that can be added to the
undergraduate program.

Do science teachers know and
understand the science content in the
agricultural education curriculum? Teachers
should be encouraged to crosswalk their
curriculum with science teachers and show
where science standards are incorporated
into the curriculum. Agriculture teachers
and science teachers should work together to
develop strategies that best integrate science
into the curriculum. Administrators can
assist with the process by providing time for
teachers to collaborate as suggested by
several science teachers in this study.

More agriculture teachers were in
agreement than science teachers that
integrating science would help agriculture
programs meet state standards and help
students meet requirements for state
standards. The biggest area of disagreement
between the science and agriculture teachers

was offering science graduation credit and
college admissions’ science requirements for
agriculture courses that integrate science.
With additional research, this may explain
why science teachers sometimes oppose the
integration of science and agriculture subject
matter. Although a majority of teachers
agreed, a significant number of agriculture
teachers were more in agreement that
students will be better prepared for
standardized testing if they learn science
through an agriculture context.

The data presented serves as a
benchmark for identifying and comparing
science and agriculture teachers’ perceptions
of integrating science and agriculture.
Further areas of research include: (a)
examining exemplary programs that

integrate science and agriculture may yield a
model for integrating science; (b) assessing
the influence of integrating science in the
agricultural education curriculum on student
achievement in science would add to the
knowledge base on contextual learning; (c)
determining other stakeholder perceptions of
integrating science into the agricultural
education curriculum; (d) assessing

agriculture teachers’ knowledge of basic
science concepts would provide a more

independent measure of teacher science
competence; and (e) identifying effective
collaboration approaches for academic and
agriculture teachers.

References

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GREGORY W. THOMPSON is a Professor in the Department of Agricultural Education and
General Agriculture at Oregon State University, 112 Strand Agriculture Hall, Corvallis, Oregon
97331-2212. E-mail: greg.thompson@oregonstate.edu.

BRIAN K. WARNICK is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Agricultural Systems
Technology and Education at Utah State University, 2300 Old Main Hill, Logan, Utah 84322-
2300. E-mail: brian.wamick@usu.edu.

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